This application of the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University requests renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant for Years 27 through 31. The Cancer Center has a clear and accessible organization with carefully enumerated priorities. In the past 1 + years, the CCCWFU has made substantial progress in scientific innovation and accomplishments: Key back science leadership positions have been filled, and 10 cancer-focused basic science faculty recruited. Research has been consolidated and strengthened into well-funded, cancer-focused programs. The research base off peer-reviewed cancer funding has increased from 5.5 to 9.7 million dollars. The Center has fostered the development of novel molecular approaches to cancer diagnosis and therapy, resulting in translational research linking our basic and clinical science programs. A new training grant in cancer biology has been approved for funding. The Center continues an outstanding record of community-based research in early detection, prevention and clinical trials, bolstered by an NCI Research Base Grant for Cancer Control and Therapy. Support is requested for four Programs: Cell Growth and Survival , DNA Damage and Cellular Defense, Clinical Research and Cancer Control and eight shared resources: Biostatistics, Clinical Research Management, Analytical Chemistry, Analytical Imaging, Biomolecular Resource Facility, Cell Culture and Viral Vector, Microscopy, and Tumor Tissue. A scientific strategy for the next five years has been carefully formulated. It includes the recruitment of more than 20 basic scientists in cancer research whose research target the Center's four Programs. More than 40,000 s.f. of cancer wet lab space are under construction to facilitate the research of these cancer investigators. The blueprint for this growth is embodied in this application, which provides the Center's vision of how it can reduce the burden of cancer in our region and in the nation.